


Those long van rides

by Thorpe



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Branjie, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Season 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 08:34:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18340019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorpe/pseuds/Thorpe
Summary: A few snippets from "those long van rides" everyone's talking about.





	Those long van rides

**Author's Note:**

> I used female pronouns for all the characters and overused the word "her".  
> I do not own anything outside of my imagination.
> 
> (It's my first fic but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless)

The ride back to hotel was surprisingly quiet. The queens had been buzzing with emotions after the first elimination but after recieving warning looks from the driver their excited chatter was reduced to hushed murmurs from the backseat. Brooke sighed and tried to make herself more comfortable squished between Shuga Cain and Vanessa. Her legs were way too long to be stuck in the middle, damn Scarlet for taking that front seat before her. Annoying as it was, such a detail couldn’t overshadow how giddy she felt after slaying their first challenge. She thought back to walking into the workroom the day before, shaking more than that mini flag she entered with and vowing for her confident demeanour to hide stress that creeped on her with every new face she saw. There was still a long way to go to the finale and it surely was going to be a rocky one but she felt much more confident taking it now. 

Light movement next to her shook Brooke out of her thoughts. She turned to the side just in time to notice a head of sleeping Vanjie fall from her headrest. Automatically, she tilted her shoulder to make sure that shorter man had a safe spot to land on. She expected her to wake up but sudden change of position didn’t seem to affect younger queen in the slightest. Stunned, Brooke didn't dare to move, not to interrupt that fragile moment between them. It was quite surprising how comfortable Vanjie looked leaning on her and even more so how comfortable she felt agains her. Canadian queen watched leftover glitter glimmer on that flawless caramel skin under the lights from the lamp posts they were passing by, her eyes roaming over whatever she could see of that handsome face under awkward angle she mustered without turning her neck. Focused on matching her breathing to the slow, peaceful rhythm the other one set, Brooke lost track of the time until van came to abrupt stop which woke Vanjie up from her nap.

"We're there?" she blinked confused sitting up straight and rubbed her eyes "Girl, it's been episode one and I tell you I could sleep through the whole season right now"

"Haven't you already done that during season 10?" Scarlet teased getting out of the car.

"Oh you bitch" Vanjie followed her step cackling "I ain't go home today and I ain't gonna go home til' I see ‘em one hundred thousand on my account, Mary"

”Come on, miss Lynn” Shuga’s voice brought Brooke back to reality as she tore her eyes away from faux-fur claded figure and looked at the door being held open for her, realising she still didn’t move an inch from her seat “Enjoyed your ride so much you’d like to stay there?” she teased

“Oh, go away” Stepping out she half-heartedly glared at a smug smirk of her New York sister, hoping to end this conversation. Catching up to the small crowd standing before the hotel entrance Brooke franticly tried to convince her head that no, she did not felt upset in any way by how unphased Vanjie acted and most definitely she did not want to stay in the van with her for a little while longer and trace the shadows her lashes casted on her cheeks with her fingers. Not at all, thank you very much.

~

Their new driver apparently wasn’t big on following strict rules producers forced upon the cast as he turned on the radio with a comment how he couldn’t hear anything over the loud music, turned the volume even higher up and winked at them in the rear-view mirror. 

Next time they entered that van they would be interested in nothing more than getting any rest they could before inevitably sleepless night of memorising lines but in that moment they were still carefree and having fun trying to lipsinc to the songs blasting from the radio. Suddenly the car was filled with Trixie like laugh-screems, whistles and a couple of cat calls as Vanjie threw her leg over Brooke who was sitting next to her and attempted a lap dance which probably would have been more effective if Puerto Rican queen wasn’t still seated in her place with a seatbelt fastened, but nevertheless appeared to have made an impression, judging from the light shade of pink that covered Brooke’s cheeks and neck. Recovering from the initial shock, she fixed her slightly gaped mouth into a smirk and sent Vanjie a look that sent shivers through her body.

Soon the song was over and voices talking over each other flooded the van once again, guessing what their next challenge would be, their anticipation growing bigger and bigger as they were getting closer to the studio. Only two queens didn’t join the discussion, too lost in each other eyes and their own silent conversation. 

“I hope there’ll be dancing, I’m ready to snatch my win so watch out, girls” Kahanna smiled confidently, her spirit in a better shape than the day before.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t be looking forward to dancing on that stage again, boo” Yvie shot back from the middle row, causing another wave of laughter. Montrese opened her mouth but instead of coming with a reply, she was left gaping upon noticing that Vanjie not only remained in her previous position but actually scooted even closer to the former ballet dancer, now tightly enveloped in her arms. The moment looked oddly private among all the commotion surrounding them so she quickly averted her gaze, catching A’Keria’s half-confused, half-amused expression watching the scene turned as far back as her seat allowed her. When she locked eyes with equally disorientated Kahanna, she shrugged and sat properly, chiming in with whatever conversation was going on in the front seats. With a final glance at soft smiles shared by the pair next to her, Vegas showgirl furrowed her brows and looked through the window wondering what else that day had for them.

~

“Ugh, I didn’t miss that part, bitch” A’Keria feigned disgust as she entered the van that was supposed to drive them for the first interview of their press week and saw two men sitting closer to each other than it seemed to be humanly possible. As usual, they didn’t seem bothered, long used to her pretending to be cranky but obviously rooting for them from the very beginning. Vanjie simply rolled her eyes and Brooke smiled cheekily leaning down for another peck.

“I think they’re cute” Soju mused from the next row where she was sitting with Ariel and Plastique, waiting for the latter to find perfect lightning for their selfie.

“Cute my ass. Should’ve been here during the season” Ra’jah’s comment earned her a few screeching “SHADES” and a fake pout from the first eliminated queen.

“Leave my cyst alone!” Tiara exclaimed in Nails’ voice, taking a break from looking for the best angle. After a moment she sighed defeatedly lowering her hand and locked her screen “I keep getting miss branjie in the frame”

“Soon” Brooke promised, referring mostly to countless conversations she wished to have never happened rather than to the Vietnamese’s remark “I can’t wait for people to know the truth” she squeezed Vanjie’s hand affectionately and got a brilliant smile she so loved in reply.

“Fans are going to be wild” Nina chuckled, living to see her friends this happy.

“And we’re gonna tease ‘em the house down, y’all not ready” Vanjie joined in excited, talking even quicker and louder than usually “Gonna brag ‘bout what trade my man is. Post a lil’ picture, maybe some video” 

“Well, maybe not the videos” Blonde joked with a wink. She laughed into her partner’s hair at their sisters' howling and placed a soft kiss on shorter queen’s head as Plastique screamed that ‘she didn’t need to know that, mom’.

“Get those ratings, get those ratings” A’keria yelled giving her best Vanjie impression, making the whole van roar with laughter.

Still giggling, Vanessa looked up at the man who gave her more happiness than anyone ever had before and day after day continued to make her even happier. If she owed that to RuPaul, sure as hell she was going to do whatever she could for her to get that Emmy or anything else she wanted and yet it still wouldn’t be enough to thank her properly. She felt herself smile that big, bright smile that only one person knew how to cause as Brooke lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles lightly. Such little gestures always made her feel butterflies even if they had to be carefully hid from the prying eyes of others, in safety of their homes or backseat of vans. 

“Soon” Brooke repeated with conviction. Soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say "Hi" or leave a question about the meaning of life at @freykitten on Tumblr


End file.
